Memoirs of Popular Delusions Vol 1 | Page 5

launch out into extravagance. He soon became a regular
frequenter of the gaming-houses, and by pursuing a certain plan, based
upon some abstruse calculation of chances, he contrived to gain
considerable sums. All the gamblers envied him his luck, and many
made it a point to watch his play, and stake their money on the same
chances. In affairs of gallantry he was equally fortunate; ladies of the
first rank smiled graciously upon the handsome Scotchman -- the
young, the rich, the witty, and the obliging. But all these successes only
paved the way for reverses. After he had been for nine years exposed to
the dangerous attractions of the gay life he was leading, he became an
irrecoverable gambler. As his love of play increased in violence, it
diminished in prudence. Great losses were only to be repaired by still
greater ventures, and one unhappy day he lost more than he could repay

without mortgaging his family estate. To that step he was driven at last.
At the same time his gallantry brought him into trouble. A love affair,
or slight flirtation, with a lady of the name of Villiers [Miss Elizabeth
Villiers, afterwards Countess of Orkney] exposed him to the resentment
of a Mr. Wilson, by whom he was challenged to fight a duel. Law
accepted, and had the ill fortune to shoot his antagonist dead upon the
spot. He was arrested the same day, and brought to trial for murder by
the relatives of Mr. Wilson. He was afterwards found guilty, and
sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to a fine, upon the
ground that the offence only amounted to manslaughter. An appeal
being lodged by a brother of the deceased, Law was detained in the
King's Bench, whence, by some means or other, which he never
explained, he contrived to escape; and an action being instituted against
the sheriffs, he was advertised in the Gazette, and a reward offered for
his apprehension. He was described as "Captain John Law, a
Scotchman, aged twenty-six; a very tall, black, lean man; well shaped,
above six feet high, with large pockholes in his face; big nosed, and
speaking broad and loud." As this was rather a caricature than a
description of him, it has been supposed that it was drawn up with a
view to favour his escape. He succeeded in reaching the Continent,
where he travelled for three years, and devoted much of his attention to
the monetary and banking affairs of the countries through which he
passed. He stayed a few months in Amsterdam, and speculated to some
extent in the funds. His mornings were devoted to the study of finance
and the principles of trade, and his evenings to the gaming-house. It is
generally believed that he returned to Edinburgh in the year 1700. It is
certain that he published in that city his "Proposals and Reasons for
constituting a Council of Trade." This pamphlet did not excite much
attention.
In a short time afterwards he published a project for establishing what
he called a Land-bank [The wits of the day called it a sand-bank, which
would wreck the vessel of the state.], the notes issued by which were
never to exceed the value of the entire lands of the state, upon ordinary
interest, or were to be equal in value to the land, with the right to enter
into possession at a certain time. The project excited a good deal of
discussion in the Scottish parliament, and a motion for the

establishment of such a bank was brought forward by a neutral party,
called the Squadrone, whom Law had interested in his favour. The
Parliament ultimately passed a resolution to the effect, that, to establish
any kind of paper credit, so as to force it to pass, was an improper
expedient for the nation.
Upon the failure of this project, and of his efforts to procure a pardon
for the murder of Mr. Wilson, Law withdrew to the Continent, and
resumed his old habits of gaming. For fourteen years he continued to
roam about, in Flanders, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and France.
He soon became intimately acquainted with the extent of the trade and
resources of each, and daily more confirmed in his opinion that no
country could prosper without a paper currency. During the whole of
this time he appears to have chiefly supported himself by successful
play. At every gambling-house of note in the capitals of Europe, he was
known and appreciated as one better skilled in the intricacies of chance
than any other man of the day. It is stated in the "Biographie
Universelle" that he was expelled, first from Venice, and afterwards
from Genoa, by the magistrates, who thought him a visitor too
dangerous for the youth of those cities. During his